I always assumed that monthly maintenance represented the purchase of spairs, consumables, and other sundries.

i.e: It need not be done in a spaceport at all, the parts are simply expended by the crew whilst performing their normal duties.

In theory I guess you could require the expenditure to be made at high-tech worlds and in advance, but in practice I usually handwave it away unless the players spend an extended period of time somewhere that makes the needed purchases unlikely (even then, a workshop may allow players to make what they need).

Face it, regardless of the local TL, a lot of spaceports are maintained by external agencies (the Imperium, a corporation, etc). So they're going to bring in things they are likely to need.

The way I'm reading it, and I could be wrong, is the maintenance occurs weekly, after every jump. All of these bar one can be performed anywhere, but once a month it must be performed in a star port, or am I getting mixed up with earlier editions?

mancerbear wrote: ↑
Do I have to take my TL12 starship to a TL12 star port for monthly maintenance, or will any A or B star port suffice?

It's not stated, so it's up to you.

A starport can only build ships of it's TL or lower, so I have always assumed it's the same for maintenance.

You need both running and shipyard maintenance (Core, p145):

Repairs and Maintenance: A ship needs maintenance, which costs 0.1% of the total purchase price of the ship per year. Maintenance should be carried out each month (divide the year’s maintenance cost by 12 to find the monthly cost. Once per year this should be performed at a shipyard.

I've always, as a matter of practicality, simply considered the "monthly" maintenance to be a form of withholding. You do your maintenance on the basis of a yearly overhaul where you spend a week or so in spacedock, and the captain is expected to put a fraction of that cost into escrow every month so that when the time comes, there's no question that the money to pay for the ship's yearly tune-up will be there when it's needed.

"Repairs and Maintenance: A ship needs maintenance, which
costs 0.1% of the total purchase price of the ship per year.
Maintenance should be carried out each month (divide the
year’s maintenance cost by 12 to find the monthly cost.
Once per year this should be performed at a shipyard.

If maintenance is skipped or skimped on, roll 2D each
subsequent month,"

A bit confusing. Does this mean you should have this maintenance actually done once a month at any port but also must be done once a year at a shipyard which would be an A or B port?

Perhaps the monthly expense is a combination of spending on expendable and consumable items and payments to the shipyard (via correspondent banks, I suppose) to maintain a reservation for the annual maintenance.

"Life Support and Supplies: Each stateroom on a ship costs
Cr1000 per month. This cost covers supplies for the
life support system as well as food and water, although
meals at this level will be rather Spartan."

"Life Support and Supplies: Each stateroom on a ship costs
Cr1000 per month. This cost covers supplies for the
life support system as well as food and water, although
meals at this level will be rather Spartan."

Not wishing to drag this off-topic, but is it correct that this is separate and additional to the Cr1000/month for each person on board?

I'm tempted to count the base wages of extra, above required crew number, mechanics and engineers against monthly maintenance costs. Or maybe only up to a % if you want to require parts purchases as well.

I haven't seen the same table in v2, but back in v1 the average cost of living was a lot less. The average cost per day (which included all expenses such as rent, food, clothing, transportation, etc) was Cr40/day. That assumed you ate 'average', which in the US is probably restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden, etc. Decent food that is reasonably priced. The chart also assumed that you were SOC 6 to be 'average'.

Assuming your food consumes 25% of your daily expenses, that's only Cr10/day. If you were living Very High, your daily costs are Cr83 (SOC 10). That translates into about Cr25/day.

Assuming 8 days onboard a ship, that's Cr200 if you are living Very High. So I'm really scratching my head at the spartan type of meals. That just makes no sense. Even the military eats better than spartan - at least going by my experience and what I would consider to be spartan. I suppose your mileage may vary on the comment, but the intent is pretty clear if you use the dictionary definition.

"Life Support and Supplies: Each stateroom on a ship costs Cr1000 per month. This cost covers supplies for the life support system as well as food and water, although meals at this level will be rather Spartan."